Earlier this week, we carried a report on negligent security at Wal-Mart, and the death of a worker who died in a Black Friday stampede at a store in Long Island. The man, Jdimytai Damour was opening the doors to the store at 5 am, with an estimated 2,000 shoppers waiting outside. He had barely got the store doors open when the crowd of shoppers stormed in, creating a stampede. Damour was thrown to the ground, and died in the stampede. Later, it was confirmed that he had died of asphyxiation.

Now, his family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the giant retailer. The lawsuit claims that Damour’s death was caused due to the retailers’ “carelessness, reckless negligence, and wanton disregard for public safety.” The lawsuit also mentions the “gross negligence” of the company in its “staging, conducting and advertising for sales events.” It also names the security company that was responsible for maintaining security at the store, as well as the shopping mall where the terrible incident took place.

On that exceptionally dark Black Friday, Damour had been preparing to open the store for what is generally considered the busiest shopping day of the year. When the doors opened, as video camera footage showed, Damour was thrown to the ground by desperate shoppers. Other shoppers too fell down, and were injured in the stampede. Some reports said that a pregnant woman too had been among the injured, and had to be treated for her injuries, although other reports have refuted this. Wal-Mart is no stranger to injuries that occur during its wild Black Friday shopping galas. The company apparently chooses to settle the personal injury lawsuits arising out of these confidentially, and out of court.

Damour was not an employee of the company at the time of his death, but was an independent contractor. This means that his death does not figure under Workers’ Compensation. His family is entitled to bring a civil wrongful death claim against the company, however.

This is a company that continues to post profits even as the rest of the economy reels under a recession. You would think that the company would have made adequate security arrangements to control shoppers before allowing them inside the store. There are so many ways that the company could have prevented the tragic loss of Damour’s life. It’s not as if they never had warnings. Every year, Black Friday results in a stampede, as shoppers begin to throng to the venue the previous night in order to be at the start of the line. Even with this foresight, Wal-Mart did not think it fit to arrange for extra security or have a graded entry system at the store.

Damour’s family has suffered a terrible personal loss, and is entitled to obtain compensation for their suffering. This man was being a diligent employee, performing his duties and going about his work the way he was supposed to, all for a company that didn’t even see the need to protect him.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of wrongful death. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

Injuries resulting out of negligent security at Wal-Mart’s Black Friday sale are nothing new – ask personal injury lawyers across the country, and they’ll admit to having represented injured victims of these ferocious stampedes, resulting in confidential settlements with the retail giant. This time, however, the insane rush to snag the best buys of the year at a Long Island Wal-Mart store left one employee dead and several shoppers injured. Initial reports said that a pregnant woman was among those injured, and found sprawled on the ground after the stampede had subsided.

The employee, 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour, along with some other employees was attempting to open the doors to the early morning sale at about 5 o’clock in the morning. No sooner had he managed to squeeze the doors open, than he was crushed in the avalanche of desperate shoppers, who knocked him over and continued to trample on him as they rushed through the store. Videos showed that several people had been knocked to the floor as the doors opened, although no serious injuries were reported. As police who later rushed to give first aid to the injured Damour attempted to resuscitate him, they still found themselves pushed by shoppers in a hurry. Damour died soon after, and his parents are justifiably angry.

Initial reports had a pregnant woman injured in the throng of shoppers, and suffering a miscarriage, but these have now been refuted. That more shoppers were not seriously injured in this stampede is a minor miracle, and not due to any foresightedness or planning on the part of the world’s largest retailer.

Wal-Mart has been accused of being careless and negligent in its handling of security for Black Friday. The Friday after Thanksgiving has traditionally been the busiest shopping day of the year, and crowds lining up the previous night outside their favorite stores has been an accepted part of the tradition. This year too, there were an approximately 2000 people waiting outside this particular Wal-Mart’s entrance, waiting for the doors to open. For the retailer to know that crowds would be not only huge, but also likely to be unmanageable, and still not provide security for the employees and the crowds of shoppers, is completely appalling. This was an accident that could have been so easily averted, had proper security arrangements been in place before the shoppers were let in. Some retailers have a ticket system in place, where ticketed customers are let in, leaving the shopping throngs easy to manage. To allow 2000 shoppers to break down the doors of the store, knocking down an employee as well as other shoppers, is a shocking breach of security on Wal-Mart’s part.

The company is already feeling the heat from its union, which has long berated the company for its poor policies towards workers. The company also needs to face censure from citizen’s advocates, consumer groups, and negligent security lawyers for the shameful manner in which it creates conditions that are ripe with possibility for injuries.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of negligent security. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

A rapper from Florida, his record label and a local nightclub are being sued by five Gainesville residents who claimed they were injured when a concert got out of hand in 2006.

The rapper known as Plies was performing at the 238 West Nightclub on July 6, 2006. There was a sold out crowd of more than a thousand people. Just a few minutes before closing time, there was reportedly some unrest because the rapper’s mike had been cut off and because the performance was carrying on for too long. At this point, some members of the rapper’s entourage, including his brother, fired shots. At least five men were injured, one of them in the stomach and another was hit in the neck.

The five people who were injured - Billy Dee Williams, Edwin Devasco Faircloth, Michael Lamar Daymon, Steven Ruben Jean-Jaues and Dorian Shannel Johnson - have now filed a lawsuit against the nightclub, Plies and the record label Slip-n-Slide Records.

According to an attorney for the plaintiffs, who held a press conference together to announce the lawsuit, the incident not only left them with physical injuries, but far worse, left them with psychological damage. Any sudden noise is enough to trigger panic, family members say. The incident has made them edgy and tense all the time. The lawsuit is claiming a total of $10 million from the rapper – whose real name is Algernon Washington – his record label and the nightclub combined.

Another aspect that this incident has raised is the influence of gangster rap in this unfortunate incident. According to the attorney for the plaintiffs, the rapper got carried way by the violent lyrics of his music and his clients were made to suffer.

Washington meanwhile has denied through his attorney that he should be in any way held responsible for what happened at the concert. He isn’t responsible for security arrangements, his attorney said.

He might not be responsible for the security arrangements at the venue, but when members of his entourage begin to fish their guns out and shoot randomly about, he begins to look less like an innocent bystander and more like a part of the problem. While he might not have been responsible for hiring security, he is responsible if his entourage decides to take extreme measures to control the crowd.

Five people have been injured in an incident that should have been all about music. You should not have to worry about getting your head blown off when you go out for the night – even if it’s for a gangster rap concert.

If you have been injured due to inadequate or negligent security, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury lawyer. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.